Bio

BLUESFESTERS will be pleased to see ANGELIQUE KIDJO return.

“Her spirit is irrepressible, and she brings life to everything she touches” – Peter Gabriel

ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO is one of the greatest forces in African music, a creative energy with eleven international albums to her name. Her 2010 release Oyo featuring John Legend, Bono and Dianne Reeves, is a measure of her maturity. The album is deeply introspective, reflecting on the events that have brought ANGELIQUE KIDJO to this point.

ANGELIQUE'S latest album Spirit Rising, a live concert special is set for release February 21st. Recorded in Boston during a PBS concert at station WGBH, it showcases Kidjo amid a line of special guests that includes Josh Groban, Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis and Ezra Koenig.

ANGELIQUE'S prior associations with Groban, Reeves and Marsalis have already produced some memorable results. And the presence of singer/guitarist Koenig, from the rock band Vampire Weekend, enhances the proceedings with a seasoning of youthful vigor.

The album is a testament to how much ANGELIQUE enjoys performing live “I’m so happy when I’m on stage,” . “Being on stage is what makes every singer/songwriter’s life worth it. Singing in the shower is only for yourself. But if you write and perform music for other people, you also have to be able to make them part of the music. The audience gives me energy, so I have to give it back. If I kept it, I wouldn’t be able to sleep for two days.”

Not only is ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO an amazing songstress and storyteller, she has an amazing story herself. Having grown up in the West African state of Benin and being forced into exile aboard to avoid imprisonment, this Grammy award winning inspiration still bears witness to her African roots.

Her fierce advocacy of humanitarianism and women’s rights, prompted Time Magazine to call her “Africa’s premier diva” and The Guardian to list her in their Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World. Her friend and mentor Miriam Makeba was a constant source of guidance.
“Miriam Makeba was the African role model that I needed...She’s really the person behind my choice of life, of being a singer.”

Makeba’s campaigning against apartheid, cost her right to a South African citizenship and resulted in a 30-year exile. Similarly, ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO’S campaigning for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, as well as her own organization, Batonga Foundation, which provides African girls with an education, will go down in the annals of history.

“When your history is not written, you count on storytellers and traditional singers in Africa to tell you who you are, what your family’s about and what is going on in your society. This is what I do with my music, because I am a witness of my time.”

Her rich and resonating voice coupled with her powerful mastery of language, results in a unique sound that Mojo Magazine has praised as “a wildly intoxicating musical brew”.

But it’s on stage where ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO really shines - her booming voice and infectious, joyous stage presence will have you dancing in no time.